Directed by Marc Klasfeld
Rammstein - Mein Land from Rammstein on Vimeo.
Directed by Jonas Akerlund
The World's First Music Video Review Blog.
November 15, 2011
September 16, 2011
New Videos: Evanescence, Avril Lavigne, Nicki Minaj, Rihanna
Directed by Meiert Avis.
Directed by Dave Meyers.
Directed by Sanaa Hamri
Directed by Evan E. Rogers
August 1, 2011
New Videos: The Game feat. Chris Brown, Skylar Grey
Directed by Bryan Barber.
Directed by Paul Brown.
July 14, 2011
June 30, 2011
Review: Eminem - "Space Bound"
Shot in Los Angeles back in February, Joseph Khan's newest Eminem video finally gets released four months after an ostensibly complex editing process. The result is dark, atmospheric and without a doubt inspired by the work of great filmmakers like Christopher Nolan and David Lynch.
This blog is about music videos and not about music itself; but when the musical quality and textural richness of a song are culmulating like in "Space Bound", the expectations towards its music video adaptation start shifting into new, maybe somewhat inadequate areas.
After the huge success of their "Love The Way You Lie" video, Eminem and director Joseph Kahn re-team once again for the latest single off Shady's platinum hit record "Recovery".
Hiring Sasha Grey to play Eminem's counterpart is an interesting, yet foreseeable choice; the ex-pornstar is a very controversial person of enormous public interest, especially after her appearance on HBO's "Entourage". Much like Megan Fox in "Love the Way You Lie" she absolutely guarantees millions of youtube clicks.
The video tells the story of Eminem's different psychological entities; and even though its true meaning is left open for interpretation, the story works quite well. One may find himself re-watching the video a few times just to get a hold of some details and some feeling of what the whole video could be about. For some it will be frustrating to realize that there isn't actually any detectable solution to the narrated riddle, but others will rejoice in the fact that this is just a glimpse of Eminem's tortured soul and a glance at his his messed-up love life. Maybe it's all just a marketing stunt, maybe it's sheer honesty. It's always the same question with Eminem, who has been sharing his most intimate feelings and experiences with his worldwide audience ever since the start of his career.
The technical similarities between Joseph Khan's next to last video "Love The Way You Lie" are obvious: For example the performance is shot against a massive backlight that gives Eminem's great ability to perform in front of the camera a strong visual appeal.
The overall visual style is obviously inspired by David Lynch hors d'oeuvres like "The Lost Highway" or "Mulholland Drive". The the split screen idea of separating Eminem's personality, as well as rewinding the whole video in the end, could be interpreted as an homage to Christopher Nolan's "Memento" or even Michael Haneke's (original version of) "Funny Games".
The fact that music video directors let themselves be inspired by great filmmakers is nothing new and perfectly fine. This is one of the great qualities of this medium, to let you grow as a filmmaker, to allow you to experiment and to give you the opportunity to pay tribute to those who create the very fabric of dreams classic feature films are made of.
But, what's not ok, is to display a suicide in such a voyeuristic way as Khan and Eminem do in this video; as Slim Shady shoots himself in the head, splattering blood all over the bar. This scene's fabricators have clearly overstepped the borders of any responsible treatment that the topic of suicide would demand for. The so called "Werther"-effect, a scientificly proven fact that carelessly displayed suicides in media lead to imitation, is something that filmmakers must have in mind when they are dealing with the topic of suicidal behaviour in their work. And it is cleary very irresponsible to risk any attempt of emulation by heart-broken Eminem fans just to generate publicity and youtube views.
Rating (3/5)
June 7, 2011
June 1, 2011
May 19, 2011
Review: Beyoncé - "Run The World (Girls)"
Delayed almost a week due to efforts on "perfecting" the finished version, veteran music video director Francis Lawrence finally delivers on Beyoncé's "Run The World (Girls)".
It's hard to determine what exactly happened during now and the initially announced release date of "Run The World (Girls)" seven days ago. The official statement "Beyoncé was working on perfecting it" is rather ominous and leaves the impression that something seriously went wrong during production. Be that as it may, the video is solid, but neither among Beyoncé's nor Lawrence's best.
"Run The World (Girls)" is pretty much reduced to dance performances conducted by choreographers Frank Gatson and Sheryl Murakami. They did an amazing job creating a staggering accumulation of vibrant bodies shaking their limbs synchronous to the pounding beat. It's energetic, it's sexy, and -most importantly- it's pretty raw; more hiphop than "gaga-esque".
From a technical point of view, "Run The World (Girls)" is quite an interesting piece: The average shot length is very high for a contemporary music video and in some scenes the director barely switches between different angles and focal lenghts. The idea of reducing editing speed in order to support the impression left by the dancing sequences is efficient, and I think it works pretty well. All in all, the video is nicely filmed and composed.
But when it comes to set design, costumes and props; in fact when it come to the whole "post-apocalyptic scenery"; the video leaves a bit of a disappointing aftertaste.
How many times do we have to see Tupac and Dr. Dre's "California Love" video get recycled? Not so long ago, P!nk did exactly the same thing in her "Funhouse" video, directed by Dave Meyers. Is it so hard to think of something new? (Yeah, it is.)
Anyway, "Run the World (Girls)" is a well executed, captivating music video which surely will succeed in promoting Beyoncé's new album "4" (June 28th), and more importantly, it will diffuse some of the ongoing controversy about the song's monotonous quality and edginess.
Rating (3/5)
May 5, 2011
March 31, 2011
Review: Katy Perry feat. Kanye West - "E.T."
Italian photographer and director Floria Sigismondi stays true to her style and creates a dark and futuristic video treatment for Katy Perry's smash hit «E.T.» feat. Kanye West.
I anticipated the video release of «E.T.» a lot. And the fact that Floria Sigismondi directed it, made it even more exciting; she might as well be one of the most talented music video directors out there. Her Sigur Ròs video "Untitled" is a masterpiece. Her Christina Aguliera video "Hurt" is epic. And she's one of the few music video directors who were able to establish and maintain a unique style, regardless what kind of music they were treating.
"E.T." might not be Sigismondi's best work but it has definitely some great moments in it. It's high concept, flawlessly executed and it matches the song's acoustic atmosphere quite well. The video opens with a great cinematic intro, and there are some some amazing shots in it - especially when Katy Perry softly touches the surface of a faraway planet to unveil a mysterious stranger, who appears to be her lover.
But on the other hand the video suffers from some annoying faux-pas. The stock footage thing... C'mon. I mean, how many times have we seen the same cheetah wasting the same poor gazelle over and over again? Or the humping monkeys?
Furthermore, the editing is a bit too cautious for my taste. But that's Sigismondi's style; she tends to stay in one set for a relatively long period of time, then change it to reveal something new and push the story forward. That's fine with me.
But again I have to ask myself: Why does a well-established director and artist like Sigismondi use the same out-worn symbols and subjective iconography we've seen over and over again in the last two years? It's all so god damn "Gaga-esque" these days. But I guess it would be naive to wonder why.
Still, the video remains quite awesome and is probably one of the best so far this year.
Rating: 4/5
March 26, 2011
Review: The Black Eyed Peas - "Just Can't Get Enough"
The Black Eyed Peas and director Ben Mor deliver a passionate video set in the luminous city of Tokyo.
"Just can't get enough" was shot one week before the earthquake and the subsequent tsunami. The endless tragedy that came over Japan reflects in this snap-shot of what we now must call status quo: the vivid and shiny city of Tokyo and its people will forever be altered by this catastrophy, and "Can't Get Enough" is one of the last portraits of the cultural and social uniqueness which now tragically seem to have become nothing more than memories of times past.
Ben Mor manages to give a very intimate insight in the emotionality of someone who travels to faraway cities, wandering sleeplessly through a strange jungle of conrete and epileptic accumulations of visual impressions.
One might suspect that the director was inspired by Sofia Coppola's "Lost in Translation"; he chooses a comparable visual approach and the video has the same subtle sadness to it. But is that a bad thing? Definitely not. It's impressing how the director manages to create the same captivating athmosphere within such a short period of time.
Tokyo is a fantastic location for any cinematographic undertaking. The lights, the faces and the locations are staggering. When you're from the States or Europe it strikes you as completely different world.
My assuption is that they shot the video mostly handheld with DSRL cameras, which in this case is perfectly fine. The technical advantages of these relatively small cameras serve the emotional closure between audience and protagonist. The shots are well composed, the editing is low-key but efficient.
During the last section of the song, when the beat starts to gain tempo, the video reaches its climax with performance scenes set in some crazy light tunnel construction. A very impressive and expensive set one might think. Could be CGI as well. But I am quite sure this is just another location the city of Tokyo has to offer and the director chose to shoot on.
Every high profile director who tends to and/or is obliged to reduce concept in order to reduce costs, should take this video as a prime example of how it should be done when you can't spend gazillions of dollars on spectacular sets and special effects: open your mind, travel to a faraway city, and share your most intimate impressions with the world!
Rating: 4/5
March 11, 2011
Review: Kanye West feat. Rihanna - "All of the Lights"
Hype Williams' latest Kanye video offers a strange combination of mind numbing 2D graphics, strobelight soaked performances and a very generous look at Rihannas décolleté.
True art comes from a perfect balance between concept and chaos. Bad art is either just chaos or just concept. I like to think that art which solely comes from chaos is still better than art which emerges from pure concept. The concept of this video however is to generate chaos. And that doesn't work out very well at all.
I have great respect for Hype's work, he is a music video pioneer who delivered some true classics back in the old days, like Busta's "Gimme Some Mo" or "Can It Be All So Simple" by the Wu Tang Clan. But he has a tendency to get lazy. First there was this letterbox thing, which in most cases seemed to be an excuse for not having to shoot anything but some cute girls wearing Gucci hats and Versace undies while wiggeling their asses in front of the camera. It all became just fashion.
But now, with this video, the simplicity reaches yet another climax. It penetrates the technical level as well, which I think is a very alarming thing, keeping in mind that we talk about an expensive Yeezy-Hype collabo. No more 35mm, no more angles, no more slow motion, no more nothing.
Hype must have earned quite a respectable amount of money for this. And we all know that Kanye tends to "buy" quality, which explains why he thinks a "good" music video must have cost at least a million bucks. But I just can't believe even Kanye is happy with this one. Some scenes, the intro shots with the little girl for example, just look awfully DSRL-amateurish. I am sick and tired of DSRL-Videos. And furthermore, it all makes no sense at all. What are you trying to tell us, guys?
The strobe thing sometimes works, sometimes is doesn't. It's very simplistic, which is not a bad thing itself. But the sudden alternation between the total mayhem of graphical impressions, lights and colors, and the completely flat and slowly edited performance scenes with Rihanna and Kid Cudi just seems superficial and crude.
The police car sequence looks pretty awesome, yeah. But you kinda get enough of that after you realize that they obviously thought that this scene would carry the whole music video, which it doesn't.
This video reaks of the idea that by putting the brand "Hype" on it, it doesn't have to be complex, challenging or visually appealing. Hype rather plunges everything into a big paint-pot.
The only concept I see in this video that there mustn't be any concept at all. Which actually is the worst concept you can think of.
Rating: 2/5
March 7, 2011
Review: Lady Gaga - "Born this Way"
Lady Gaga releases her latest video "Born this Way", directed by Nick Knight. It isn't nearly as epic as Jonas Akerlund's "Telephone" video (feat. Beyoncé). Nevertheless, the opening sequence is pretty spectacular.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think "Born this Way" is Nick Knight's first music video since Björk's "Pagan Poetry" back in 2001. Kinda weird, considering that fact that this was one of the most controversial music videos of all time. Anyway, it's no surprise at all that Knight returns to the director's chair only to work with pop phenomenon Lady Gaga, who tends to have a smiliar taste for fashion photography inspired artsy music videos.
Knight's real genius shows during the opening sequence, a disgusting celebration of Gagas seemingly transforming and hyperactive sexuality. She represents this queenlike alien mother who gives birth to a whole army of baby Gagas. A true nightmare, one might say. But it's a brilliantly executed tibute to classical science fiction art cinema masterpieces like "2001 - A Space Odyssey" or "Alien". The slime dripping embryos, this '1970' montage of floating bodies and flowers, the voice-over... It gives you the creeps, man.
Too bad the best part is over when this slimy birth orgy ends. For some reason, we don't get to see anything new at all when the song actually starts, except a (dance) performance in a set-less black hole and some very dull skeleton makeup. A bit disappointing after such a captivating start.
Rating: 3/5
March 6, 2011
Review: Jennifer Lopez feat. Pitbull - "On the Floor"
Jenny from the block is back. Director TAJ Stansberry's attempt to make J-LO look as illustrious and sexy as she did back in the old days, doesn't work out too well if you ask me.
Maybe they cut J-Lo's promotional budget in half. Or maybe Stansberry's DP is just another "gruaduate" from the infamous New York Film Academy. In the end, this video looks aweful. It's one of those videos where the producer decided to rent a club for one night, jam pack the place with dancers and extras and just shoot with available light, perhaps adding one or two spots or Kinoflos. At least that's what I get from this video. There is absolutely no composition or lighting concept whatsoever, the combination of colors is just random and there's no harmony, no Zen, no nothing.
There's a lot of unintended overexporsureand as well, no angle or shot that leaves a lasting impression.
Besides the sloppy camera work, you get a certain feeling of impefection over all. But at the same time, the only message the video tries to deliver is: J-LO is perfect. Perfect ass, perfect skin, perfect accessoires. The only thing perfect in my opinion is the fat ass BMW at the beginning of the video.
The rest is just half-baked and looks cheap. Swarovski? Sorry dear, there are some potential brands you shouldn't put in your overstylized comeback video, even though they offer you a ton of cash. Oh yeah and Pitbull, dawg, next time try not to bang the dancers before the shoot, there's glitter on your face.
Rating: 1/5
Review: Britney Spears - "Hold it against me"
Britney takes a shot at another comeback. Will she succeed, I can't say. But she definitely chose to work with the right director.
Anybody who thinks that music video is a dying artform: Watch a few Jonas Akerlund videos and think again. His Beyoncé feat. Lady Gaga video "Telephone" is a masterpiece. And this Britney video rocks too. Akerlund takes it back to the great 90ies when videos where packed with awesome intros, skits, great actors and hollywoodish cinematography.
I'm not a big admirer of Mrs. Spears. There were a only a few videos I really liked, ("Toxic" was pretty cool). The new music she tries to come back with, isn't my taste either. But the visual treatment by Akerlund definitely gets the best out of it. Rich, blasting images, and there's this masterfully edited scene showing Britney kicking her own ass. Truly awesome editing. And I LOVE these .3sec cutaways where you see some disturbing weired image. Akerlund definitely has a great understanding of visual tension, he plays with cinematographical rules and breaks them at the right time. He also seems to shoot 35mm film or at least he takes out the big digital guns like RED. It think it's really sad that some bigshot directors (e.g. like Hype Williams) tend to get lazy and start shooting with DSRL Cameras. But that's another story.
The set they built is pretty spectacular, even though the idea of a million screens... well, it's nothing new. But its nicely executed. Must have cost a ton of money (I think they really built this thing), which explains the massive brand name dropping. Sony and 'Plenty of fish' must have spent a fortune. But as long the money is spent on a director like Akerlund allowing him to put the pedal to the metal, I'm cool with it.
Rating: 4/5
March 4, 2011
Review: Rihanna - "S&M"
Rihanna's latest video off her album "Loud" directed by Melina Matsoukas is supposedy meant to be provocative and daring. It's not.
I despise Perez Hilton's work. I've never met him, nor have I read his fucking blog. But for some reason I know the guy when I see his face. And he's in this video. You may have missed him, but that awful stomacheache you now feel after watching it, that might just be him!
I don't understand what Rihanna and Melina Matsoukas see in the idea of gaging corpulent people. Or putting Perez Hilton in their video. It's neither sexy, fun, nor has it any visual quality or sociological value to it. It's just the most ovbious analogy to the lyrics you can think of.
I liked Rihannas "Rude Boy" video, also directed by Melina Matsoukas. A colorful, fun piece and it was kinda sexy, in a somewhat innocent way. "S&M" is a hot pop song and a little less provocation and a bit more of Rihannas sensual charisma would have done a much better job. Besides some solid camerawork and a nicely paced editing, there's really not much in it for me. The sets are dull, the S&M references so obvious. I ain't into S&M, but you can literally see how those actors, or shall we say extras, aren't there. They're just not there! No sweat, no dirt. Just superficial pastic gummybear junk.
Rihanna sings: "There is sex in the air..." and we have to watch a guy on a dog leash piss on a fire hydrant? What the hell is wrong with you?
Rating: 2/5
Review: Dr. Dre feat. Eminem - "I Need a Doctor"
Here's Dr. Dre's second video lifted from his long awaited "Detox" LP (fingers crossed). The video opens with the most spectacular car crash scene in music video history.
After the somewhat lethargic video "Kush", Dre's first alleged Detox single, I was hoping for a more dynamic video treatment for whatever was coming next. And they didn't disappoint me. The first sequence of "I need a doctor" is totally mindblowing, and if you are a true Dr. Dre fan, you'll be pissing your pants while watching it. He somewhat copies Eminem's concept of opening up and showing inner feelings like insecurity, anxiousness and heartache. You can see it in his eyes, when he's standing there, on a cliff, watching his life passing by.
I like that. The courage to show vulnerability is what separates the usual gangsta rapper from a true hiphop artist. And I like it even more when a director like Allen Hughes ("Menace II Society", "The Book of Eli") creates the corresponding visual treatment.
The first scene is a total mindfuck, brilliantly edited and it totally gets you into the right mood before the song starts. However, when the actual video begins, you can sense a little that Allen Hughes is not the experienced music video director one might expect him to be. I find the lack of close-ups and the very slow editing a bit irritating. Furthermore there are some serious lip-sync issues, which in my opinion, are quite embarrassing for a rather expensive production like this one. Nevertheless, the story concept is pretty cool and Skylar Grey gets the angelic appearance she deserves.
Rating: 3/5
Review: Ke$ha - "Blow"
Pop starlet Ke$ha puts another video out there, "Blow", directed by Chris Marrs Piliero. It tries to be grotesque and funny... and fails.
Not only does Lady Gaga rule all radio airplay and internet statistics at the moment, she obviously seems to be a source of inspiration for aspiring wannabe pop sensations - like Ke$ha. Or maybe, the record label managers dictate a certain mandatory "Lady Gaga-ness" for their new video releases.
Be that as it may, after Christina Aguilera's attempt with her rather dull "Not myself tonight" video, pop singer Ke$ha hops on the Gaga train as well.
From a technical point of view the video is pretty average, camera and editing are unspectacularly ok, definitely nothing special. Some odd choices were made in postproduction, the fake overexposure gets on your nerves, especially when Ke$has cute face gets melted away. Truly creative choices by the director are rare, eventhough the dialogue scene featuring James Van Der Beek ("Dawson's Creek") in the middle and the shoot-out scene at the end deserve some credit. I also like the make-up, it's kinda reduced to the max.
However, the video attemps to be funny at several times and fails. I guess the scene when Van der Beek rips out a bra (!) from beyond his shirt, ought to be funny. I mean come on. Plus, those goat-unicorn-things or whatever they're supposed to be, look cheap. I mean really cheap. This ain't no greek mythology, this ain't no pop art, this ain't no surrealism. It's just badly executed trash. The director shows absolutely no attempt of creating a certain cinematographic complexity one has to expect when watching a video which claims to be grotesque and provocative. "Blow" is just a colorful mix of half baked ideas.
The superficiality reaches it's peak already at the beginning of the video, when you're forced to read the totally unfunny and uninspired title "No mythological creatures were harmed in the making of this video". I mean, seriously, who gives a damn?!
Rating: 2/5
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